Elena Day-Hakker's introduction to music came when she was ten years old. A bright child and frequently bored at school, she started piano lessons and grew from picking out familiar tunes to being able to use the instrument to communicate with her audience.

After a career which included work with the Siberian Ballet Company, Ms Day-Hakker moved to Australian in 2003 and joined the Mitchell Conservatorium in Bathurst.

Part of her new role saw her teaching children in a country school - a world away from her own studies in prestigious Russian music schools.

It takes her a year of practice to prepare for performance, and Russian composers still form an important part of her repetoire.